The Fortress of Solitiude

Superman had The Fortress of Solitude. So does Grace. It is laughingly huge but, for her safety and my sanity, she must be contained. It is big enough that she can entertain visitors and there is still tons of room. So far she loves it. I am so thankful. And it has a playwall with a mirror. Grace can look at herself as long as she wants to!

Grace's Playzone has two extension walls. It snaps together easily and the size can be changed depending on your need. I highly recommend it. I can now go to the bathroom without fear of what will happen when I leave the room.

Gracie's First Professional Pedicure

As you may have seen in pictures, Grace has had her toes polished by her cousins. Well on Wednesday she had her first professional pedicure.

My mother has had the same people doing her nails for years. They are Vietnamese and have followed the whole adoption process. Before I left for Vietnam they translated a note for me to give the ladies at the orphanage. They have been very excited about the adoption and they talked so much about Vietnam before Terri and I left. They were so excited to see our pictures from Vietnam.

Mother went to get her nails done on Wednesday and took Grace and Kristan with her so everyone could see Grace. They all call her Thao and love to hold her and talk to her in Vietnamese (sidenote: she doesn't respond to the Vietnamese language or name like she used to). One of the guys that works there has a little girl that is about 3 years old. When he held Grace she starting crying and said "you can hold her but you can only love me". She is obviously a daddy's girl.

Before they left Kelly, one of the manicurists, offered to polish Grace's toenails. Hi picked out a color. No one can pronounce his Vietnamese name and since it sounds alot like "Hi" that's what everyone calls him. Kristan held her foot while Kelly polished.

Her toes are glow in the dark neon pink. Aren't they lovely?

The Lost Pictures

Yesterday I found a disk of photos and video from our time in HCMC. Amazing. I remember taking them but I completely forgot about them. Here are a few.

Look how much she has changed! She was such a little bald baby.


Grace looking incredibly adorable in her stroller I bought in Danang. That stroller was a lifesaver, best $30 I have ever spent. I last saw the stroller in Taipei. I am sure that it made it to LA at some time. Wouldn't it be hilarious if it showed up on my doorstep?


Kelly, Justin and Lucy in the lobby of our hotel in HCMC. One of the servers from the lobby bar was playing with Lucy. All the Vietnamese people I met had a special love for children. You could see it in their eyes.


This is Amigo's, a restaurant that was beside our hotel in HCMC. It was fantastic. My sister and I were thrilled to have a steak (real Texas beef), baked potato with sour cream and a salad with honey mustard dressing. It tasted just like home. It was a nice change.

Eleven months old.

Grace is eleven months old today. Next month is the big one. I can't believe that my baby is almost a year old. This also marks another milestone. Grace was 5 1/2 months old when we had our G&R. She has now been with me as long as she was in the orphanage.

She has six teeth - two on top and four on bottom. She has two top teeth that are about to break through.

She hates baby food. She eats steamed vegetables, baked sweet potatoes and white potatoes, a variety of fruit and deli meat. She eats deli turkey and chicken because her mother finds baby food meat revolting. Thinly sliced deli meat is the way to go.

She chews. People always laugh at the way she will work her food to the front of her mouth and chew with those six little teeth! I think it is adorable when she eats crackers. She takes petite little bites.

She is still wearing the same size clothes she wore in Vietnam. She just keeps getting longer!

She is extremely social. She loves to be out and about and is happiest when we are out shopping or in a loud restaurant.

She loves the water. In the big pool I will put her in her float and she will kick her legs like crazy. In the baby pool it is splash, splash, spash.

She pulls up on everything. She will walk up and down the couch holding on.

She is such a big girl.

Bad Hair Day?

Recently my friend Kelly wrote about how her Lucy's bangs were so long they were always in her eyes, hence the trademark Lucy bow. Grace has the same problem. Her hair is constantly in her eyes. Today her cousin Kristan thought she would try and put her hair up in pig tails. It was adorable! Well it was until Kristan and my mother took them down. Is this what they do to my daughter all day while I am at work?

Adorable Gracie


Scary Gracie


Having a conversation with the baby doll.

Bathtime Revisited

In a previous post I talked about my love of bathtime. Gracie used to lay on her little yellow sponge and splash happily with her feet. It doesn't happen like this anymore.

She's everywhere. Now I just wash things as they present themselves to me. She's up on her hands and knees and there's her butt - quick wash it! That's how it goes. She is crawling in the tub. She is inspecting the drain. She tries to stand up. Bathtime is hard work. Keeping her safe in the tub and getting everything washed is the hardest job I have all day! At least she still has a ball!

How Far We've Come

After I read my friend Nicki's comment on how much all the babies have grown and changed since Vietnam, I thought I would post some pictures that prove it. You have probably seen most or all of these. But I thought it was nice to look at them together.

Gracie at six weeks


This is the first picture I saw of her, the first time I saw that beautiful face. She was three months old.


Last pictures I received before going to Vietnam.



Home from Vietnam. Six months old.


Eight months old.


Nine and a half months old.


Now - Ten and a half months old.

Teeth

Grace now has five teeth-two on top and three on bottom. A fourth bottom tooth will be breaking through any day now. She is drooling like crazy and is biting at anything...the couch, a bracelet, my nose. Nothing is off limits. I am very good at predicting her, therefore I have been able to avoid serious injury. She doesn't sneak in and bite, she will just bite at something if it happens to be there. I am really hoping that this is just a teething thing. She also grinds her teeth sometimes. Her pediatrician said it wasn't a big deal, it would just drive me crazy.

Now that I have addressed all of the negatives about Grace's new teeth I will move on to more positive things. I just love to watch her eat now. She doesn't eat baby food anymore, she refuses. Instead I will bake her a sweet potato or steam some vegetables. She also loves deli turkey and chicken. When I feed her a bite she will move the food to the front of her mouth and chew! It is the cutest little thing. I can't remember any of my nieces or nephews doing that. She looks so grown up.

She looks more grown up each day. I thought I would miss the baby, but my little girl is so much fun. Each day she does something new. We are on the fast track to Toddlerville. Here a few photos of my big girl.